Just fixing to buy my first pair of Zen-Ray's. I'm just trying to figure out if it is worth the extra $200 for the ED2's, or if I should save my money and go with the ZRS HD. I know both are great bins. I know the differences between the two fom the comparison charts, but since there are no dealers here I can't look through them to compare. I'm not bragging, but I would say I've got better than average eyesight. Would it benefit me more to go with one pair of ED2's or two pair of ZRS HD at two different magnifications 8x and 10x. Anybody with any experience with both, your advice is greatly appreciated,

I haven't looked through the latest ZRS HD to give you a well informed input on their comparison with ED2. But the ED2 I have is very impressive, especially for the chromatic abberation control and brightness. If you have the budget for a pair of ED2, it's probably better to go with it.

I have a pair of the 2010 ZRS HD, for the money WOW. After I got them I thought wow, if zen ray can make these for this much, I wonder how awesome the ED2 would be. I say get the ED2 so you dont have to buy something lesser and regret on what your missing out on. THe extra low disperation glass should really be nice.

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

The 7 is prob a better maginfication for bow hunting. The 8 power has bigger objective lenses. and a slightly larger exit pupil. The 8x weighs 4oz more, and has about 50 @1000 yards smaller feild of view than the 7. It really comes down to personal preference and what would be best for the situation you will be using.

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

I think I read that the ED2 have better depth of focus than the ZRS so I would go ED2. I had a pair of Vortex Viper 8x42 and they were nice but you had to be focused for precisely for each distance to get a decent picture. I mean I could focus on a tree 50 yrds away and anything 10 yrds or more in front or behind and further was just blurry. I sold those. I had a pair of Kahles 8x42 and while I think the Vortex were optically just about as good the Kahles had very good depth of focus. You could focus on an object and still everything closer and way further out was just slightly out of focus and you could scan far and near without touching the focus wheel. Great optics are nice but depth of focus has become a priority to me from now on. Personally I think the Kahles are a good all around hunting binocular. I am going to get around to trying the Zen ED2 7x36 and would also like to find a Meopta 7x or 8x to compare.

ed2! bought them thru swfa--more than pleased. you can buy better but you will spend a lot more. 8x43(or 42). super glass and this has held up well through hard hunting for the past year. only complaint would be the very loose objective covers that won't stay on.

Just about the only weakness for a sub $225 price class glass the ZRS has is that it does not have the depth of focus that the ZEN ED has. That is not to say it is bad, but some people will notice that detail. You do have to use the focus knob more than you will with the ZEN ED, particularly the 7x36 ED. That glass is almost a focus free binocular.

Outside of the depth of focus, the ZRS really is nearly as sharp as is the ED. I would not worry too much about the ED glass difference, as the ZRS is very nearly as good at correcting color aberrations as is the ED. It is also a LOT more compact. The ZRS 8x42 is very little larger than the Vortex Diamondback 7x36.

Steve"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted". William Bruce Cameron

After trying and returning 3 other binocs, I ordered a Leupold Gold Ring 8x32 non-HD and a few days later ordered a Zed Ray 7x36 EDII. I have tried to find things wrong with the Leupod and really can't for $349 shipped.

The ZR 7x36 EDII came today and I'm a bit disappointed. As I had feared, they are a bit long. Compared to the Gold Rings, they have a cheap look to them. There is more edge distortion and once the focus ring stops, there is some annoying "play" in the wheel. And when comparing them out in the field, I noticed the Leupold's 420' FoV is wider than the Zen Ray's advertized 477' - somebody is wrong here! Because of the ED glass, I will admit it appears a bit brighter than the Leupold but it also has just over a 1mm larger exit pupil.

Although the eyecups on the Leupy are a bit ugly, I'm going to keep them and return the Zen Rays. By no means an expert's opinion - just mine and I have/had several alpha binocs.

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